363 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Preservation of Turnips. 
We want nothing better for this purpose, of 
course, than a good root room, or cellar in con¬ 
nection with the barn. But not one farmer in 
ten, has any such convenience, and the roots 
are stored in the house cellar, an inconvenient 
place, and often too warm for them. Tur¬ 
nips may be kept quite as well out of doors. Se¬ 
lect some dry sheltered spot near the barn where 
they will be wanted for feeding. Make a floor 
for the heap, by raising the ground about six 
inches above the surrounding level. The floor 
should be about six feet wide, and as long as is 
needful to accommodate the turnips. Pile the 
turnips upon this, running them up to a 
peak like the roof of a barn. Cover first with 
straw, sea weed, or any refuse matter, two or 
three inches thick. Then put on from six inches 
to a foot of earth, according to the severity of 
the climate, and pat the roof smooth with a shov¬ 
el. Leave holes for ventilation once in six feet 
along the peak. In severe weather, as the Win¬ 
ter advances, stop these holes with straw. The 
turnips, ruta-bagas, or white French, will keep 
safe until Spring. If they are wanted before, 
one end of the heap can be opened and the hole 
stopped with a pile of straw. Connecticut. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Hints on Beet Culture.. 
I have just gathered my first field crop of sugar 
lieets and mangel wurzels, two hundred and 
twenty bushels from twenty seven square rods 
of land. I had one load weighed after the tops 
were off, and the average was just fifty six 
pounds to the bushel. This is at the rate of 
1300 bushels, or 36 tuns to the acre, which, judg¬ 
ing from other crops I have seen reported, is 
quite respectable for a beginner. I had tried 
them in the garden on a small scale before, and 
learned something of their value for feeding. 
The common estimate made by English farmers, 
of three tuns of beets to one of hay, is none too 
high. In our more sunny and genial climate, I 
have no doubt that the beet contains a larger 
portion of nutritive matter than in England. 
They are of great value as feed for milch cows 
in Winter. A milkman in Troy, N. Y., after ex¬ 
perimenting with other roots used for this pur¬ 
pose, gives the preference to the sugar beet. 
This crop, large as it is, is an imperfect one. 
The seed was sown in May and not more than 
half of it came up. The defective hills were 
supplied by transplanting in July. These 
transplanted roots were, in most cases, not half 
grown, weighing only six to eight pounds, while 
many of the planted roots weighed from twelve 
to eighteen pounds. I have no doubt that un¬ 
der favorable circumstances, two thousand bush¬ 
els to the acre can be grown. This amount has 
been reported in this country. Thirteen hun¬ 
dred bushels to the acre, reckoning three tuns of 
roots equal to one of hay in nutritive value, is 
equivalent to twelve tuns of hay to the acre. 
This is about four times the ordinary produce 
of the farmer’s best fields. Two thousand bush¬ 
els would give fifty six tuns of roots, the equiv¬ 
alent of 181 tuns of hay to the acre. 
This ci'op was grown upon reclaimed salt 
marsh, under-drained about two feet deep with 
tiles. Last year it was planted with potatoes, and 
produced a good but not very large crop. Tins 
last Spring* it was dressed with a few loads of 
old plaster from a demolished house, and this 
with a little Pliemx Island guano, was the prin¬ 
cipal manure. The sugar bffets were planted in 
drills eighteen inches apart, and the mangels in 
drills two feet apart. Both stood about a foot 
apart in the drill. This I prefer to any nearer 
distance. You get a much larger crop with the 
large roots, and they cost less to till and to 
handle at harvest. The experiment teaches ; 
1st. That the beet is one of the most valuable 
crops that can be raised on suitable land. It is 
difficult to get the equivalent of twelve tuns of 
hay in anything else. 
2nd. That reclaimed muck swamps are very 
well-adapted to this crop, especially if they are 
undefdraiued. 
3d. The value of salt for this crop. There was 
enough left in the marsh muck to meet the wants 
of the plant. Salt is used by the best cultiva¬ 
tors in England, at the rate of about six bushels 
to the acre. 
4tli. The importance of good seed and early 
sowing. The beet, unlike the carrot, grows 
rapidly the forepart of the season, and through 
the heat of Summer. The last of April is none 
too early to sow, in tins latitude. 
5th. The value of high manuring. This piece 
of land, though not receiving much this year, 
was very liberally dealt with the previous season. 
I would manure with at least fifty half cords of 
compost or stable manure on upland, and half 
that quantity on muck swamp, and plow in. If 
too late for that operation, I would spread the 
manure during the Winter, and plow in early 
in the Spring. The manure should be wmll dif¬ 
fused through the soil. Connecticut. 
Curing Beet and Turnip Tops. 
In seasons of short hay crops for fodder, and 
also upon farms where large quantities of roots 
are raised annually, the following method of 
curing beet and turnip tops may be found ser¬ 
viceable in adding to the supply of fodder. It is 
described by an English farmer in the Mark 
Lane Express, and is said to be regularly prac¬ 
ticed in France and Belgium, where root culture 
is extensively followed. The plan may be good 
—we give it as we find it. 
The roots are taken up in dry weather, the 
tops cut off close to the bulb, and carefully laid 
in small heaps. Trenches, twelve or fifteen 
feet wide, are opened, as for storing potatoes or 
turnips, and as deep as .the dryness of the soil 
will allow. If the land be quite wet, the tren¬ 
ches should be dug quite shallow, and the ridge 
or heap of the leaves raised above the surface. 
When the trenches are ready, a layer of tops 
eight inches deep is put in, gently pressed down, 
and salt sprinkled on at the rate of three-fourths 
of a pound to every four,..cubic feet of tops ; 
then another layer and more salt arc added,* and 
so on, drawing in each layer until a ridge is 
formed at the top above ground. Earth is then 
thrown over the whole, and beaten smooth and 
hard with the spade, and a drain is dug around 
the trench to carry off the water that is shed 
from the sides. As the moisture .evaporates 
from the tops, they will settle, and cracks will 
be opened in the earth above I Hem, which must 
be smoothed over, to shed rain perfectly. 
The lower layer of leaves should be thicker 
than the upper ones, to prevent their becoming 
too salt by the drainage from above. No straw 
is used, it would retain moisture and rot the 
leaves. The evaporation and curing will lie 
complete in about six weeks, when the fodder 
is ready for use, and, it is said, will remain good 
until late in Spring. When thoroughly cured, 
the foliage is quite dry, and has the appearance 
of dead leaves. 
It is said to be particularly valuable for 
milch cows, increasing both the quantity and 
richness of themilk. The usual quantity fed, is 
about one bushel a day to each cow. All ani¬ 
mals relish and thrive well upon it. When 
fed green, especially during wet weather, the 
leaves are apt to scour animals that eat them. 
• - -q g> < i ■ ■fcana -g HsouM » c-» - - 
Summer Rambles in Hew-England. 
It was our pleasure, during the last Summer 
season, to make several excursions in tWNew- 
England States; and our recollections of sundry 
visits are so pleasant, we desire to note them. 
Middleboro, in Massachusetts, is a pleasant 
region of country, diversified with small lakes, 
gently swelling hills, well-tilled firms, comfort¬ 
able dwellings, and various other tokens of gen¬ 
eral prosperity. In some portions of this large 
town, the farms, with a soil naturally light and 
unproductive, have been over-cropped and ren¬ 
dered almost barren and useless: several of 
these, however, are now being restored to fruit¬ 
fulness by the 1 hand of diligence and skill. In 
the latter case, the chief reliance is placed on 
plowing under green crops, and on swamp- 
muck continually used in the barn-yard as an 
absorbent of liquid manures and for working 
into the compost heap. Muck is also prepared 
for use by mixing with it lime or ashes, and by 
letting it lie over one Winter for the frost to 
“ sweeten ” it. Then it is spread upon the dry 
uplands, young orchards have a dressing of it, 
gardens get'a taste of it, and wherever it goes, it. 
blesses the hungry earth. Judging from what 
we saw on one farm, in particular, we know the 
time is not distant when the broad acres of 
“ Ward Place ” will teem with fertility, and its 
lawns and gardens and spreading trees delight 
the eye of every beholder. Farmers whose lot 
is cast on the fat lands of our river valleys, have 
little idea of the difficulties their brethren have 
to contend with, who live on the thin, sandy 
soils of the sea-coast and its vicinity—if the latter 
succeed in their work, they deserve double honor. 
Here we are at New-Bedford. Oil does not 
indeed run down her streets, nor cover the wa¬ 
ters of her harbor, yet the prosperity of the town 
is almost wholly built upon it. The whaling 
business, which has been much depressed for 
three years’ past, is now rapidly reviving, and 
the whole town feels the new impulse. 
New-Bedford, we were told, is the wealthiest 
city of its size, in the country. Here are many 
fine residences, with ample gardens, and grand 
old trees, all in good preservation. On many of 
tnfe streets, the houses are not crowded together 
in dull blocks of brick and mortar, but set at 
wide distances, allowing room for generous 
lawns and various rural embellishments. One 
of the finest old places here, is the property of 
Dr. Arnold. It was noted as long ago as Mr. 
Downing’s day; the following mention of it ap¬ 
pears in the earlier editions of his “ Landscape 
Gardening,” page 41: “ In the environs of New 
Bedford, are many beautiful residences. Among 
these, we desire particularly to notice the resi¬ 
dence of James Arnold,’ Esq. There is scarcely 
a small place in New-England, where the pleas¬ 
ure-grounds are so full of variety, and in such per¬ 
fect order and keeping, as at this charming spot; 
and its winding walks, open bits of lawn, shrubs 
and plants grouped on the turf, shady bowers 
and rustic scats, all most agreeably combined, 
